Combined vestibule door and gate for railway-cars.



IPATENTED APR. 18, 1905. B. T. ROBINSON. COMBINED VESITIBULE DOOR AND GATE FOR RAILWAY CARS? APPLICATION FILED JUNEBO, 1904.

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PATENTED APR. 18, 1905.

- E. T. ROBINSON.

COMBINED VESTIBULE DOOR AND GATE FOR RAILWAYOARS.

APPLIOATlON FILED JUNE 30, 1904.

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I UN TED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWVARD T. ROBINSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO ST. LOUIS CAR COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION.

COMBINED VESTIBULE DOOR AND GATE FOR RAILWAY-CARS- SPEGIFICATION f rming part of Letters Patent No. 787,640, dated April 18 1905.

I Application filed June 30, 1904. Serial No. 214,336-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, EDWARD T. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, in the State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Vestibule Door and Gate for Railway-Oars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a combined article that may be used both as the vestibule door and gate of a railway-car, and it further relates to means for holding the door and gate members in both closed and open positions.

Figure I is a side elevation of one end of a railway-car with my doorand gate applied thereto. Fig. II is a horizontal section taken on line II II, Fig. I, showing the car and door or gate sections beneath said line in top or plan view. Fig. III is a horizontal section taken on line III III, Fig. I, illustrating the combined door and gate in full lines in closed position and the sections of the door and gate in folded and partially-folded conditions in dotted lines. Fig. IV is an enlarged vertical section taken on line IV IV, Fig. II, through the upper parts of the car door or gate sections in folded condition. Fig. V is an enlarged top view of the car door or gate section holding bar, with the spring-box and keeper by which said bar is confined shown in horizontal section. Fig. VI is an enlarged vertical section taken on line VI VI, Fig. II. Fig. VII is an enlarged vertical section taken through the car door or gate sections in folded condition. Fig. VIII is an enlarged vertical section taken on line VIII VIII, Fig. III. Fig. IX is an enlarged vertical cross-section taken on line IX IX, Fig. II. Fig. X is an enlarged vertical section taken on line X X, Fig. III.

A designates the body of a railway-car which carries the vestibule B, that has the door-posts O and D.

E is the end wall of the car within the vestibule.

1 and 2 designate the lower sections of a door or gate, which partially control the entrance-way to the vestibule B, the section 1 being connected to the door-post C by a hinge 3 (see Figs. II and III) and the section 2 being connected to section 1 by a hinge 4., the construction providing for the movementot' the sections into alinement, so that they may close the vestibule entrance-way or may be folded to the car end wall E. Upon the upper edge of the section 1 is an angle stop-bar 5, that has a vertical flange 6 located at the outer side of the section, and upon the upper edge of the section 2 is an angle stop-bar 7 that has the vertical flange 8 located at the inner side of the section.

' 9 designates a hand-rail fixed to thesection 1. The rear end of this hand-rail is adapted to strike against a cushion-pin 10 (see Figs.

II, III, and IX) when the door or gate sec-. 'tions are moved into closed position.

This pin is-mounted in a bearing-plate 11, secured to the door-post C, and it is backed by a spring 12, which serves to hold the shank of the pin projected, so that it will receive the rear end of the hand-rail 9 and act as a bufier in connection with the sections 1 and 2 to prevent rattling of the sections and the parts carried thereby.

Secured to the door-post D is a keeper 13, (see Figs. II, V, VI, and VIII,) that is provided with an entrance-Way 14 at its inner side which faces the interior of the vestibule.

15 is a lock-bar that is swingingly connected to the section 2'by a pivot-screw 16. (See Figs. V and VI.)

'17 is a box secured to the door or gate section 2 at the location of the pivot-screw 16, and within said box is a spring 18, that rests upon the rear arm ofthe lock-bar 15. The rear end of the lock-bar is provided with a hook 19, that is adapted to engage the handrail 9 when the door or gate sections 1 and 2 are in alinement and in closed position. At

this time the opposite or forward end of the lock-bar engages within. the keeper 13, as seen in Figs. II and VIII, to hold the sections closed while they are held in alinement'by the lock-bar.

is a handle carried by the lock-bar 15, that projects through the door or gate section 2and operates in a slot therein and by which said lock-bar is raised or lowered to connect it with or disconnect it from the hand-rail 9 and keeper 13 when the sections 1 and 2 are in folded condition, at which time they are swung away from the entrance-way to the vestibule into the position indicated by dotted lines, Fig. III, and shown in full lines, Fig. VII. The hook end of the lock-bar 15 engages a catch-hook 21, that is secured to the car end wall E, (see Figs. III, VII, and X,) so that said sections will be held in their folded condition.

22 designates upper door-sections that are preferably provided with glass panes 23, the rear section being connected to the door-post C by a hinge 2 1 and the outermost section being connected to the rear section by a hinge 25, thus providing for the movement of the upper sections into alinement with the lower sections, as seen in Fig. III, or into folded condition, as seen in Figs. II and IV. The rear section 22 is slightly shorter than the other section 22 and it mates with the car door or gate section 1, which is slightly longer than the second lower section 2, as seen in Figs. I and VII.

26 is a retaining-hook that is pivoted at 27 to the lower end wall E and which is adapted to be dropped over the upper stiles of the door-sections 22 to hold them in folded condition.

When it is desired to completely close the entrance-way to the vestibule B, all of the door and gate sections 1, 2, and 22 are brought into alinement in the following manner: Assuming the entire series of sections to be in folded condition, as seen in Fig. II and dotted lines, Fig. III, the holding members by which the sections are retained in their folded condition are first released, and the lower section 1 is first swung to the vestibule entrance-way, while the section 2 remains folded thereagainst. The rear upper section 22 is then swung into position above the lower section 1, so that its lower edge will strike against the vertical flange 6 of the angle-plate 5, surmounting said lower section, which prevents farther outward movement of the upper section. The outer upper section is then moved into alinement with the rear upper section, and the lower section 2 is next swung into closed position, so that the flange 8 of the angle-bar 7 at its top edge will strike against the inner face of the outer upper section and serve to hold said upper section in closed position, thereby completing the door. The door members are then secured by rocking the lock-bar 15, through the medium of its handle 20, so that its hook 19'will ride over and engage the hand-rail 9 and its opposite end will enter the keeper 13, fitted to the vestibule-door post B, this actuation of the lock member taking place just previous to the bringing of the lower section 2 into alinement with the other door-sections. When it is desired to produce a gate, only the upper sections 22 are moved into folded condition while the lower section 2 is folded against the lower section 1, and said lower section 2 may then be swung back into closed position and secured, as before, through the medium of the lock-bar 15. It will therefore be seen that I am enabled to completely close the entranceway to the vestibule by forming a door thereat, the members of which are held in their closed positions entirely by the lower-sectionlocking means and that when desired the lower sections may serve as a gate only, while the upper sections are folded away from the entranceway, thereby leaving an opening above the lower sections for the free passage of air into the vestibule.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination of a pair of mating lower sections, a pair of mating upper sections, and a pair of stop-bars carried by one pair of said sections to receive and restrict the movement of the other pair of said sections; one of said stop-bars serving to limit the outward movement of an opposing section and the other stop-bar serving to limit the inward movement of another opposing section.

2. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination of a pair of lower sections, a pair of upper sections, and stop-bars of angle shape in cross-section carried by a portion of said sections for confining them to the other sections, substantially as set forth.

3. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination of a pair of lower sections, a pair of upper sections, and angle stop-bars surmounting the upper edges of said lower sections, one of said stop-bars having its vertical flange disposed at the on ter side of one of the lower door-sections, and the other stop-bar having its vertical flange disposed at the inner side of the other lower section; one of said stop-bars serving to restrict outward movement of one of said upper sections and the other stop-bar serving to re strict inward movement of the other upper section, substantially as set forth.

1. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination of a pair of lower sections, a pair of upper sections, and angle stop-bars surmounting the upper edges of said lower sections, one of said stop-bars having its vertical flange disposed at the outer side of one of the lower door-sections, and the other stop-bar having its vertical flange disposed at the inner side of the other lower section; one of the sections of both the upper and lower set of sections being longer than the other corresponding sections; one of said stop-bars serving to restrict outward movement of one of said upper sections and the other stop-bar serving to restrict inward movement of the other upper section, substantially as set forth.

5. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination of upper and lower swinging sections, a hand-rail carried by one of said lower sections, a lock-bar carried by the other lower section for engagement with said hand-rail, and means independent of said hand-rail for receiving the engagement of said lock-bar to hold said lower sections in closed condition, substantially as set forth.

6. In a combined door and gate of the character described, the combination with doorposts, of upper and lower sections hinged to one of said posts and hinged to each other in pairs, a keeper in the other of said posts, a lock-bar carried by one of said lower sections for engagement with said keeper and provided with a hook, and a hand-rail carried by the other of said lower sections to receive the engagement of said lock-bar hook, substantially as set forth.

7. In a combined 'door and gate of the character described, the combination with a pair of door-posts, of sections hinged to one of said door-posts and foldingly hinged together, a hand-rail carried by one of said sections, a lock-bar carried by the other of said sections for engaging said hand-rail, and a second doorpost and acushion-pin seated in the door-post to which said sections are hinged and adapted to receive the engagement of said hand-rail, substantially as set forth.

E. T. ROBINSON.

In presence of E. S. KNIGHT, M. C. MURPHY. 

